I want to show you just how powerful the first story really is. Ever since I listened to episode 668 of the podcast This American Life last month, I’ve been asking people, “What do you think about MSG?” Now you might remember that MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is a controversial food flavouring commonly used in […]

Micheal Phelps broke both his personal record and the world record when he won the men’s 400m Individual Medley Final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Four years later, he battled for 4th place in the same event. Don’t become complacent, it takes hard work to stay on top. A few years ago, Shawn was working […]

Dorothy Vaughan was a mathematician who worked for NASA during the 1960s. Her story provides an excellent example of the importance of continually learning and effectively responding to disruption. Happy New Year! We took two weeks off over the holiday period to relax and recharge. Now, we’re back and ready for a big year!  Here […]

Last month I had the opportunity to give a 90-minute talk to 16 Silicon Valley CEOs in San Jose. They all believed in business storytelling and wanted to dig into the practicalities of the skill. One of the questions they had was, ‘How do you do storytelling with deeply analytic and scientific communities, both internally […]

When presented with a problem, its easy to assume big interventions will best prompt change. This week’s story suggests that we should think about the small things we can do, before jumping to bigger interventions that other people can implement.  This week, Shawn shares another story. The story demonstrates how small things can make a […]

People tend to be resistant to change. So, what is the best way to keep people interested in a new product? This story suggests finding a balance between new and familiar features is the answer.  It’s now Shawn’s turn to share a story. The story he has chosen suggests the success of new products relies […]

The story behind Southwest Airlines’ ‘Bags Fly Free’ campaign demonstrates how having a clear purpose can help an organisation make better, more profitable decisions. Having a clear purpose can help an organisation make better decisions. Southwest Airlines’ purpose to ‘democratise the skies’ helped the airline add over $1 billion to their bottom line, despite a […]

Is poverty a lack of character or a lack of cash? This story could change your mind.   This week, it is Mark’s turn to share a story. The story he has chosen is one which demonstrates how stories can change minds and influence people. This story changed his mind. It reminded him to be […]

As you may already know, I’ll be in Silicon Valley this December to deliver two of our storytelling programs, Storytelling for Sales and Story-powered Culture Change. We’ve mentioned the programs on Anecdotally Speaking and on our social media, but I wanted to give you more information about Story-powered Culture Change, as this is the first […]

The story of how James Dyson designed and produced the first bagless vacuum cleaner is one of perseverance and iteration. We know the ending of this story, but the fifteen years which precede it are well worth sharing for the insights they offer into innovation. Most of us know the Dyson brand. Their vacuum cleaners, […]